If you've been following the case, then you know that lawyers for the city want to determine if information the filmmakers gathered could help them fight a $250 million federal civil lawsuit filed by the five men who were convicted and then exonerated of the crime.

You probably also know that the Burns pere and fille and McMahon, who's married to Sarah, have vowed to fight the subpoena and have hired an attorney to do so. As Sarah told me, "We're not sure the city can subpoena us because we believe we're protected by the shield laws" that allow journalists to protect their sources and research. She also noted that the city's original subpoena, which has since been narrowed, "was so incredibly broad that it essentially included everything that we had collected."

More like hunting with an RPG judging from the strongly worded statement that an attorney for the city, Celeste Koeleveld, issued on the matter.

"Mr. Burns and his daughter have publicly sided with the plaintiffs and their families, who are seeking hundreds of millions from New York City. Sarah Burns worked for years as a paralegal for the plaintiffs' lawyers, and Mr. Burns has stated multiple times, before and since the film's release, that his goal is to 'put pressure on the City to settle' and to influence the jury," reads Koeleveld's statement. "The movie has crossed from documentary to pure advocacy. Under such circumstances, no reasonable person could have expected us to participate in their project. The plaintiffs' interviews go to the heart of the case and cannot be obtained elsewhere. If the plaintiffs truly want an open airing of the facts, they should encourage the filmmakers not to hide anything."

Sarah Burns called these accusations "outrageous," telling me: "As individuals we may have feelings about the case, but we didn't make the film as advocacy. We made the film to tell a true story." She added: "There’s no such thing as objectivity, but would you say that a columnist for a newspaper is not protected by shield laws because he or she expresses an opinion?"

Speaking of opinions, mine is that Koeleveld's statement reads like it came from the double-talk handbook that New York City officials inevitably consult when ass-covering is required. On one hand, she's dismissing The Central Park Five as propaganda — and citing its alleged advocacy as the reason that city and law-enforcement officials did not sit before the filmmakers' cameras. On the other, she's claiming that the interviews conducted for the movie are crucial to the understanding of the case.

So, which is it?

I invited Koelveld to comment on this story, but her press rep emailed me back to say that due to the pending litigation, she would not be elaborating upon her original statement for the time being. I'll update if anything changes.

Sundance Selects begins rolling out The Central Park Five in New York on Nov. 23.

UPDATE: The filmmakers attorney John Siegal has responded to the city with the below letter:

Comments

this is in regards to the movie central park five/i went to see the movie on saturday nov 24 //it is an absolutely wonderful touching movie //i wish i could just get up and hug the 5 men that lived this horrible ordeal//i want to compliment sarah burns and her husband and father on this excellent movie/documentary//is there another showing where the cp five men will be available to speak??i am unable to go today 11 25 12 but would love to know if this will be event will be repeated //this movie should get even more attention than twilight etc//its an incredible fault in the legal system and it should be in all theaters so the public will know .......thank you for exposing this story sarah burns
angie sanchez

Central Park Five : if I could display my alarm at children being terrorized and persuaded through promises of going home, that they should write anything a detective tells them. ( not words I choose to print here) The young boys actually thought our legal system would take a couple moments to search for truth - the simplest details. Yes, All the public should know exactly what we have hired to make up crimes and commit crimes. The tragedy : "We The People" might continue to support the worst of law enforcement "Persons"
Thank you to all involved in uncovering the worst form of terrorism our country has experienced.

I thank you for your courage. I thank you for making a mother like me believe that in America justice prevails - always after much agony and pain - for a black man facing a white woman in court.
I thank you for your integrity. It makes me believe that America is not a communist gulag.
Ms. Sarah, I thank you for making so many families hold on to hope.
A Mom

The process is starting, thank you: More opinions please, I had no idea how a little badge and a little gun, and a label detective or prosecutor, or even magistrate -- with similar people backing them up, gave these people the right to "terrorize and damage beyond repair".